How Did ‘Nashville’ End? Series Finale Recap

After six seasons, two networks and countless country songs, “Nashville” is finally over. CMT aired the series finale Thursday night, but the TV show couldn’t end without some last minute drama.

Deacon’s Dreams: Bucky (David Alford) returns to offer Deacon (Charles Esten) a chance to headline his own tour, but the crooner is already looking for excuses to back out. Scarlett (Clare Bowen) tells him he needs to take this chance, and Deacon points out that she should be singing too.

Daddy Drama: Deacon’s father Gideon (Ronny Cox) sends Daphne (Maisy Stella) a bracelet and a good luck card. Deacon is convinced that his dad is trying to manipulate her, but Daphne thinks it’s just a nice gesture. She wants him at her final competition performance.

Deacon confronts his father. Gideon says he had a slip up when he fell off the wagon, but he thought he would be able to control it if he saw the girls and what he was missing. He admits that the look on Daphne’s face when she found the liquor was really the end of his drinking. He can’t hurt Deacon or the girls again.

The Takedown: Deacon runs into Jessie (Kaitlin Doubleday), who tells him that Brad (Jeffrey Nordling) is sending her son to boarding school across the country. After that, Deacon decides to give Zach (Cameron Scoggins) a call with an opportunity.

Alannah (Rainee Blake) is still trying to play nice with Brad. He books a show for her in Memphis and invites her to a party in his hotel room, but it turns out there’s no one but Brad there.

He tries to grope her, and Alannah tells him to stop. She has to punch him after he ignores her verbal refusals. Brad says that she knows the game. The man helps the woman, and the woman is supposed to help the man. He even claimed that she was in breach of not holding up her end of the contract and told her she would never work again as she walked out.

Deacon, Zach and Alannah walk into Brad’s office, and Zach says Brad will sell Shiny New Records for $15 million, a fraction of the company’s worth. In exchange, Alannah will keep quiet about him trying to coerce her into sex, which she had secretly recorded. Brad still doesn’t seem scared until Jessie and a bunch of other women show up. Zach has the records for how Brad paid them off. He can’t fight back without becoming the next Harvey Weinstein. He sells the company and gives Jessie full custody of their son.

Daphne’s Letdown: Brad managed to make other artists uncomfortable before being dethroned. Daphne has to sing a pop song that clearly isn’t right for her, and Ilse (Ilse DeLange) knows that it’ll keep her from winning the competition. She helps Daphne make it her own, but Daph still comes in second place.

The teenager cries over her loss, but her family tells her not to worry. Ilse comes up to console her, and Deacon thanks her for guiding his stepdaughter. Ilse tells Deacon she’d like to write with him when he returns from his headlining tour. Daphne and Maddie both say they would support Ilse and Deacon dating.

Daphne ends up signing with Highway 65 Records.

Javery: Avery (Jonathan Jackson) is a little irritated to find out that Juliette sold the house without telling him, but apparently she got an offer she couldn’t refuse. He is more concerned that she seems to be hiding something from him.

He confides in Hallie (Rhiannon Giddens) that Juliette is worrying him. He says her impulsiveness reminds her why he “just can’t be with her.” That’s when Hallie reveals that Juliette is pregnant with his child.

Avery confronts Juliette, who says she didn’t want to trap him. She wants Avery to tell her that he needs her and wants to grow old with her because he’s worried about what he’ll be like without her. She doesn’t want him to feel like he has to save her.

She sings one last song while packing up her house about finally being free.

A few months later, Juliette looks about ready to give birth. Her face is almost make-up free and she has stopped straightening her hair. Avery arrives with luggage, and she notes that it’s a lot of bags for a visit. “Juliette, I need you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he says as Juliette cuts him off with a kiss.

Maddie Goes Solo: Maddie (Lennon Stella) is back in the recording studio and already in a relationship with Twig (Dylan Arnold), but she looks a little sad. She tells Scarlett that she hasn’t really had time to process her breakup yet. Maddie decides to break it off with Twig to be on her own for a while. She needs some real alone time, opting to move out of her family home.

The Lost Highways Reunion: Gunnar (Sam Palladio) decides he has to stop thinking girls will be able to fix his life. He’s growing, and Avery has grown a lot too. They admit that however much they’ve changed, they’re still capable of making great music together. The boys and Will (Chris Carmack), who is back together with Zach, are seen signing autographs in a flash forward.

A Few Months Later: The flash-forward also takes viewers to one of Deacon’s tour stops at the Ryman Auditorium. It’s revealed that Scarlett, who seems to also be taking the stage, is engaged (to Bowen’s real-life husband Brandon Young). Deacon’s father shows up and says he’s proud. Deacon needs to take a breather, though.

He goes to his dressing room and has a flashback to Rayna (Connie Britton) just before the wedding day. He says everything is too good to be true, but Rayna says that it doesn’t matter how much they failed each other. They still choose each other.

Scarlett pulls him out of his reverie to go play his show. Deacon goes out on stage and invites his father to sing with him. He realizes he isn’t sure that Gideon even knows the words, but Gideon assures him that he knows every Deacon Claybourne song by heart.

They sing “A Life That’s Good” together, and then the girls and Scarlett join him. Then the other core cast members step into the spotlight. Then Connie Britton comes out with a bunch of other cast and crew members. Eric Close (Teddy Conrad), Will Chase (Luke Wheeler), Judith Hoag (Tandy Hampton), Melvin Ray Kearney II (Bo, Juliette’s bodyguard), Nick Jandl (Dr. Caleb Rand), Sylvia Jeffries (Jolene Barnes), Kyle Dean Massey (Kevin Bicks), Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (Beverly O’Connor), Pam Tillis, Buddy Miller and more appear.

“Nashville” breaks the fourth wall as the cast and crew celebrate their six years on the show. Creator Callie Khori is seen thanking fans and the city before officially saying, “That’s a wrap.”